A British parent who overdosed on fentanyl while visiting Disney World may have obtained the substance by accident.
Officials believe Philip Weybourne, 40, did not plan to purchase fentanyl and may have mistaken it for another substance.
In May of last year, Mr. Weybourne, the director of an international IT company from West Malling, Kent, fainted abruptly while on vacation in Florida with his wife and small son.
Before he became unwell, he had been drinking alone in a resort bar.
According to police and autopsy files viewed by The Times, Mr. Weybourne had taken a taxi in which detectives discovered a bag that “appeared to be packaged as an unidentified illicit drug.”
Philip Weybourne died after eating a lethal dose of fentanyl in Florida while on vacation.
The bag contained a powder substance that, according to the authorities, Mr. Weybourne may have acquired in the American Boulevard neighborhood of Orlando, Florida – close to his resort.
An inquest hearing at Maidstone County Hall previously discovered that a blood test taken after his death revealed deadly quantities of fentanyl in his system. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid comparable to morphine, and only two milligrams of it can be fatal.
Since 1999, it is believed that the substance that killed Prince has been responsible for the deaths of approximately one million people in the United States.
Fentanyl is 100 times more strong than morphine and began as a cheap and potent alternative to heroin used mostly by hard-core drug addicts in the United States, who injected or smoked it.
On the day of his death, the 40-year-old had lunch at the Boathouse restaurant in Orlando with his wife and young kid and left feeling well.
Now, it is frequently used to adulterate practically every other street drug, making the already perilous activity of purchasing illegal narcotics exponentially riskier.
Why is fentanyl so harmful, and what is it?
Fentanyl was initially created in Belgium in the 1950s as a painkiller for cancer sufferers.
Due to its high potency, it has gained popularity among recreational drug users.
The number of fatal overdoses caused by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl increased from nearly 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, surpassing those caused by traditional opioid medicines and heroin for the first time.
And more than 72,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2017 – a record fuelled by fentanyl.
It is frequently added to heroin since its biological effects are identical to those of heroin. US experts estimate that fentanyl is up to fifty times more powerful than heroin.
In the United States, fentanyl is classed as a schedule II substance, suggesting it has certain medical use but a high potential for abuse and the ability to induce psychological and physical dependence.
Many people who overdose do not realize they are using fentanyl since it is often diluted with other medications.
Dr. Joshua Stephany, who did the autopsy, confirmed that Mr. Weybourne’s system had no other prohibited narcotics at the time of his death.
As with any unknown substance purchased illegally, you do not know what you are purchasing or ingesting, he reportedly wrote in his results.
Mr. Weybourne’s death was considered an official accident.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States, fentanyl is the most lethal drug threat our nation has ever faced. No community is immune to this toxin.
In a statement that was read at the trial, his wife Dorlyn Weybourne stated, ‘On May 23, we awoke late and did not visit any amusement parks.
It was just going to be a day of leisure. We enjoyed the finest lunch and drank champagne as if we were still living in Dubai.
Following an amphibious vehicle trip, we returned to the hotel around 5.30 p.m. to conclude the day.
Mrs. Weybourne claimed that her husband, the Middle East director of Excis Compliance Limited, wanted to continue drinking and proceeded to the Yacht Club hotel by himself.
Two hours later, she heard a knock at her hotel room door and was informed that her husband had been transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Mrs. Weybourne stated, “I inquired whether it was heat stroke or a heart attack.”
“When I arrived to the hospital, I did not observe my husband. I barely recall the doctor telling me that his death occurred at 8:06 p.m.
Doctors informed Mrs. Weybourne that her husband died as a result of a heart attack. The autopsy found that he had lethal doses of fentanyl in his body.
Assistant coroner Catherine Wood stated, “He had no underlying health issues, and I am satisfied, based on the autopsy results, that fatal levels of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used as a pain medication, caused his death.”
The family returned to the hotel prior to Mr. Weybourne’s collapse at the Yacht Club hotel (pictured) in Epcot, where he had gone for a drink.